Headcount went from 11 to 26. The org chart still has one layer.

The missing management layer looks like an overhead you can defer. The arithmetic usually says it was already being paid for, just in a less visible currency.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for Headcount went from 11 to 26. The org chart still has one layer.

A firm doubles in size over three or four years without ever making a structural decision. Nobody sat down and chose a flat organisation; it simply never became anyone’s job to change it. The founder or managing director still holds every reporting line, still signs off the exceptions, still knows what every person is working on this week, or believes they do. Revenue is up. Delivery is slower, quality is patchier, and the best people are starting to ask what happens next for them. The instinct is to read this…

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